Dispensing container with displaceable bottom



I ug. 25, 1953 NLMUSKIN 35 DISPENSING CONTAINER WITH DISPLACEABLE BOTTOM Filed Sept. 11, 1948 Patented Aug. 25, 1953 DISPENSING CONTAINER WITH DISPLACEABLE BOTTOM Nathan Muskin, Omaha, Nebr.

Application September 11, 1948, Serial No. 48,854

1 Claim. (01. 222-105) This invention relates to dispensing containers and more particularly to a container that has a rigid body portion and a collapsible side which is preferably the bottom side of the container. The invention is intended primarily for use with cream-s, such as shaving cream, toothpaste, or cold cream, and with selves, ointments and the like.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved container having a rigid body and one collapsible side which can be pressed inward to displace the contents from the container through a discharge opening provided in the top wall of the rigid body of the container; Such a construction is more rugged and can be made much more ornamental than the usual collapsible tubes. As compared with a jar, this invention is more sanitary because the amount of material to be used is squeezed out and removed without having every user put his or her finger into the container.

One important advantage of this invention as compared with the prior art, is that the collapsible side, which is preferably the bottom wall, has a displaceable portion connected-to the lower edge of the rigid section of the container by an expandable portion located below the displaceable bottom. This makes it possible to displace a much larger percentage of the contents from the container as compared with constructions in which an expandable wall is located between a displaceable bottom and the discharge opening. In the latter case there is a substantial part of the contents that cannot be squeezed out of the container because the finally folded. connectin wall holds the displaceable bottom at a substantial clearance from the outlet. Another advantage of applicant's invention is that the connection of the expandible portion to the rigid section at the bottom of the rigid section locates the connecting scam in an exposed position where it can be made easily and with simple machinery, thus reducing manufacturing cost.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appearor be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cream container embodying this invention,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the bottom of the container with collapsible portions by which it is connected around the edges of the opening at the bottom of the container, the

bottom structure of Figure 2 being shown in the fully extended position that it occupies after substantially all of the contents have been displaced from the container,

Figure 3 is a sectional view on a reduced scale, taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 with the bottom wall in its lowermost position, such as it occupies when the container is full,

Figure 4 is a side elevation of a container embodying a modified form of the invention,

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4,

Figure 6 is a sectional view showing a second modified form of the invention,

Figure 7 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the connection between the bottom and the side wall of the container illustrated in Figure 3,

Figure 8 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the connection of the inner side wall to the outer side wall of the container shown in Figure 6.

The container shown in Figures 1 and 3 includes a rigid body portion II) which is preferably sheet metal or plastic material. The body portion has walls comprising a top side I I and other sides I2 extending downward to a bottom edge I5 which rests on a table or other support on which the container is placed. There is a discharge outlet or opening ll in the top side II. This outlet I! is threaded to receive a cap [9.

The rigid sides H- and I 2 are integrally connected together and enclose a space which is open at the bottom. The container has another side comprising a collapsible bottom wall H with a folded edge portion 23 connected to the bottom edge l5 of the container around the entire periphery of the bottom wall 2|. The entire bottom, or at least the folded portion 23 of the bottom, is made of soft and pliant material, such as lead, lead foil or soft plastic material. The edge portion of the bottom wall can be collapsed in haphazard fashion instead of the regular folds illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. l he regular folds have the advantage of locating the extra material in a more compact space.

The space between the sides 12, being open at the bottom, leaves the bottom 2| exposed so that it can be pushed up manually. When some of the contents of the container are to be discharged through the outlet opening IT, a cap I9 is removed and the bottom 2| is then pressed upward to displace the material above it. The folded portion of the bottom is preferably extensive enough to permit the bottom to be expanded into the container for the full length of the container as indicated in dotted lines of Figure 3, and when the central portion of the bottom is pushed up far enough to empty the container, the side portions are in extended positions in which they are immediately adjacent to the inside faces of the side wall, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 3. This makes it possible to discharge substantially all of the contents of the container and thus avoids waste.

It is an important feature of the invention that the bottom is made of soft or pliant material. The term soft is used herein to denote material that can be deformed manually by a person using the container. The term pliant denotes a material that can be displaced by stretching or bending, and that has no resilience, or not enough resilience to spring back to any consequential extent after being bent. If the bottom 2|, and especially the folded portion 23 were not soft or ductile, the folds would tend to spring back to their original positions whenever the bottom was displaced upward into the container.

Such a tendency to spring back would be highly objectionable because it would restore at least a part of the original interior volume of the container from which the contents had been displaced, and in doing so would draw air into the container through the discharge opening l'i. When the container was to be used again, it would be necessary to displace the bottom 2| far enough to discharge all of the air from the container before any of the paste or other contents of the container could be obtained. This would always be inconvenient, and with some substances the presence of air in the top of a partially used container would cause deterioration of the contents of the container.

The connection between the bottom 2| and the sides 12 of the container is shown on an enlarged scale in Figure 7. The lower end of the folded portion 23 of the bottom is connected with the bottom edge of the sides I2 by a locked seam 25 such as is used for various types of metal containers.

Other types of seams can be used, or the side edges of the collapsible bottom can be connected with the bottom edge of the container by solder or any other bonding means which is sufficiently strong to resist the pull required for straightening out the folds in the collapsible bottom. As previously explained, these folds need not be regular, as shown in the drawing. For cylindrical constructions the folds may be helical, and for collapsible bottoms of either rectangular or circular shape, the edge portions of the bottom can be collapsed without any regular pattern for the folds, in which case the folds or bends are haphazard.

Figure 4 shows a container with a rigid body portion 46 that has a top wall 4| and a substantially cylindrical side wall 42. An opening I! in the top wall is closed by a cap [9.

Figure 5 shows the interior construction of the container illustrated in Figure 4. The space enclosed within the top and the cylindrical side has an upper surface M which is substantially hemispherical. A bottom side comprising a wall 46 is connected with the lower edge of the side 42 by a locked seam 41. The bottom 46 is of soft or pliant material, such as ductile metal or plastic material, and can be stretched into the position indicated with dot-and-dash lines by pressure of the fingers. When the bottom 46 is displaced into the dot-and-dash line position indicated, substantially the entire contents of the container will have been displaced through the opening 11.

Figure 6 shows a second modification of the invention in which the container includes an integral body portion 60 with a top side 6| and a downwardly extending outer side wall 62, at least the upper portion of which slopes outwardly toward its lower end. An opening I! in the top side 6| is covered by a threaded cap [9. This modified construction includes a bottom 64 having an upwardly sloping annular portion 66 which connects the bottom 64 to the side 62 at a region intermediate the upper and lower ends of the side.

The upwardly extending portions 66 of the bottom 64 comprise inner sides of the container, and it is a feature of the construction shown in Figure 6 that the space embraced within the fiat center portion of the bottom 64 and the upwardly extending inner side wall 66 is substantially the same shape as the space above the sloping inner side wall 66. With this feature of construction, the pushing of the bottom 64 into the upper position indicated by dot-and-dash lines causes the contents of the container to be substantially entirely displaced. The inner side wall 66 breaks into ripples 68 as the bottom passes toward and through the midposition indicated by dot-anddash lines in Figure 6.

Figure 8 shows the way in which the inner side wall 66 is connected with the sides of the body portion 66 of the container shown in Figure 6. The top marginal edge of the side wall 66 is turned under a ring 12 and inserted as far as possible into the taper of the body portion 66. The outer side wall is then indented, either at spots, or continuously as shown, to provide displaced material 15 under the ring 12 in position to prevent the ring 12 from moving downward. The shoulder formed by the displaced material 15 thus holds the ring 12 in position to maintain the marginal edge of the side wall 66 under pressure against the tapered wall of the rigid body portion 60. Various other types of connections can be used between the inner side wall 66 and the integral body portion 60 of this second modified form of the invention.

The preferred constructions of the invention have been illustrated and described. Terms of orientation are, of course, relative. Changes and modifications can be made in the illustrated constructions without departing from the invention as defined in the claim.

I claim as my invention:

A dispensing container comprising a unitary body structure having a discharge opening at its upper end, said body structure comprising a stiff top and stiff side walls extending from the top downwardly to substantially the bottom limits of the container, the top and side walls enclosing a space that is open at its lower end and that is of generally uniform cross section throughout its height, and a bottom wall having a central displaceable portion within the confines of the stiff side walls and substantially filling the entire horizontal cross section of the space between the side walls, the central portion being exposed through the open lower end of the unitary body structure so that said central portion can be pushed up manually to force the contents of the container out through the discharge opening, the bottom wall having also edge portions integrally connected at their upper ends to the central por- $1.011 a jacent to the edg s of the central portion edges of the central portion when the container is full, and said edge portions of the bottom wall being made of soft pliant material that pulls out of its collapsed condition into extended positions in which they are immediately adjacent to the inside faces of the side walls throughout substantially the entire height of the side walls, and said edge portions being of suflicient length to provide movement of the central portion of the bottom wall to a position immediately below the top, in which position substantially all of the contents of the containers are displaced out 15 through the discharge opening to empty the container.

NATHAN MUSKIN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Lochmann Feb. 8, 1898 Lynch May 31, 1927 Guest Mar. 23, 1937 Bergerioux July 23, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Aug. 4, 1865 Switzerland Feb. 17, 1936 

